Official flag to be designed as part of county's 150th birthday celebration

By Lynn Hotaling

Sponsored by the Jackson County Arts Council, the contest is open to all county residents. All design ideas will be collected by the Arts Council, screened by an appointed committee and then submitted to county commissioners for input.

The chosen design will be rendered and submitted to the commissioners for adoption, and a local fiber artist will be selected to construct Jackson County's first flag, said Perry Kelly, president of the Arts Council.

County commissioners will unveil the new flag Saturday, Oct. 20, during the downtown celebration of Jackson's Sesquicentennial. Arts Council officials will also make the awards for the top four designs at that time.

"To solicit designs from the largest segment of the population, and to publicize the event, we are asking teachers to incorporate a study of flags and flag designs into units of study on North Carolina," Kelly said. "Art teachers are being asked to incorporate the flag design project into the study of design."

The Oct. 20 downtown celebration will mark the final day of Jackson County's monthlong celebration of its 150th birthday. County commissioners have agreed to serve as grand marshals during the Sesquicentennial Parade that will begin at 4 p.m..

Local chainsaw sculptor Fred Bauknecht, who recently made a wooden eagle sculpture for Fairview School, has agreed to donate his time to create a piece in honor of the Sesquicentennial, said Jeff Carpenter, chairman of the Sesquicentennial Committee. Bauknecht will construct the piece as part of the downtown festivities.

The countywide celebration will get under way Saturday, Sept. 29, with Mountain Heritage Day at Western Carolina University. The Sesquicentennial Committee will have a booth at WCU's annual mountain fair to sell both T-shirts and copies of the Sesquicentennial special section, which will be published by The Sylva Herald Thursday, Sept. 27.

Major events planned include the downtown Sylva Heritage Parade on Sunday, Oct. 7, which will feature only horses and horse-drawn vehicles. A Sesquicentennial time capsule will be buried at the Justice Center on Tuesday, Oct. 16, during a ceremony geared toward county schoolchildren. A tour of Webster, Jackson's first county seat, is scheduled Friday, Oct. 19, with the daylong downtown Sylva festival to follow on Saturday, Oct. 20.

In addition to these events, the Sesquicentennial Committee will sponsor an essay contest and plans several musical programs.

Special events sponsored by the Jackson County Historical Association will be held throughout the summer. Upcoming programs will include a walking tour of Dillsboro at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 13, and shape-note singing at 5:30 p.m. Sunday , July 15, at the Webster Methodist Church.

Jackson County was formed in 1851 from Macon and Haywood counties. Its government was organized in March 1853 during a two-day session at the Daniel Bryson homeplace in Beta. A monument was erected last fall along U.S. 23-74 near the Cope Creek intersection to mark the site of the county's first courthouse.

Jackson County is named for Andrew Jackson, a Democrat war hero who won an important victory over the British at New Orleans in 1815 and was twice elected president of the United States. The original county seat was named for Daniel Webster, a prominent Whig orator and statesman who died a year before the 1853 formation of Jackson County's government.

Webster was designated the county seat and served as the county's hub until 1913 when citizens voted to move their seat of government to Sylva.

Volunteers are needed to serve on various Sesquicentennial subcommittees. Individuals or groups who would like to help may call Carpenter, Jackson County's director of recreation and parks, at 586-6333.

The Sesquicentennial Committee's next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 12, at 2 p.m. at the Recreation Department.

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